First Student Travel Trends Symposium – Turning Research into Practice

The Student and Youth Travel Research Institute (SYTRI) at Michigan State University is pleased to announce the first Student Travel Trends Symposium, to be held July 12-14, 2009, at the Hilton Northbrook in Northbrook Chicago. With the symposium theme of Turning Research into Practice, we invite submissions from all applied researchers interested in the broad topic of student and youth travel. Presentation topics might include:

• Emerging trends in the student/youth travel sector
• Characteristics and impacts of school-age group travel
• Role of travel in the K-12 curriculum
• Characteristics and impacts of independently- organized student/youth travel
• Organization and impacts of college-level Study Abroad
• Challenges facing the student/youth travel sector

Invited speakers include Suzanne Cook, VP of Research, US Travel Association (formerly TIA); Ruth Nader, VP of Research, Destination Management Association International; Greg Richards, Principal Researcher, World Student, Youth & Educational Travel Confederation; and, Michael Palmer, COO, Travel and Tourism Research Association.

Submission of Abstracts We invite submissions for both oral and poster presentations, and welcome the presentation of works in progress in addition to completed studies. Please include the following information in your abstract submission:
• Study title;
• Author(s) names and affiliations;
• Preferred format: poster or presentation;
• Three-five keywords;
• The body of the abstract itself, to include a statement of purpose, description of methods, and presentation and discussion of (preliminary) results. Given the nature of the audience, please be sure to emphasize the industry implications of your findings;
• References (APA style).

Abstracts should not exceed two single-spaced pages, Times New Roman 12-point font, one inch margins on all four sides. Please submit your abstract as a Word or PDF document to Dr. Sarah Nicholls (nicho210@msu.edu) by Friday May 1.

Graduate Student Competition An award of $500 will be given to the best student presentation. If you are a graduate student and wish to be considered for this award, please indicate your student status under affiliation.

The first Student Travel Trends Symposium is being held in conjunction with the Student and Youth Travel Association (SYTA) and Treeline Associates, and has been endorsed by the Travel and Tourism Research Association (TTRA). Sarah Nicholls, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Depts of Community, Agriculture, Recreation & Resource Studies (CARRS) and Geography 131 Natural Resources Bldg Michigan State University East Lansing, MI 48824-1222 Phone: (517) 432 0319 Fax: (517) 432 3597

You can learn more about the Student Travel Trends Symposium here.